Some help adding a ship, please?

[Tachyonfang]

Hello all!
I'm trying to add a player-selectable ship to Transcendence (v 1.01) and I seem to be doing something completely wrong but I can't figure out what it is.
I have tried to follow the modding instructions that I have found for adding player-selectable ships, but none of my attempts have worked.
I was going to include a copy of my *.xml file (1stAttempt.xml) that I am trying to place into the Extensions folder for inclusion into the game, but the forum keeps telling me that "The extension *** is not allowed". Could someone who is far more experienced than I at this (which should be everybody) what I've got screwed up?

--Thanks!

[blizgerg]

There is a Transcendence pastebin here that you can use to post the XML if you so desire. If I was to give you suggestions it would be to go back to the original example and make sure it works with no modifications. Then do one slight modification at a time and check to see if it works each time you make a modification. In this way you will know what stops it from working and what does not. In addition I'd say to use some revision control software on it as well so you can track your changes. Yes, I use revision control on the small amount of modding that I have done, I use revision control on pretty much everything.

[Aury]

can you post your code?
edit - wow - failed to catch the simultaneous posts

[Tachyonfang]

Thanks for the responses-
I did try using the original mod and it seems to work fine. I will begin making single changes to it and see if that helps.
As for revision software, I simply date all my files, but I will find some revision software and start using it.
In the meantime, I have posted my file in the pastebin under the name 1stAttempt.txt, so could someone please take a look at it if and correct it if you have the chance?

--Thanks again!

[RPC]

I took a look and

Code: Select all

<Item count="20" item"&itWeaponSpeedROM;"/>

should be

Code: Select all

<Item count="20" item="&itWeaponSpeedROM;"/>

That's the only mistake I caught.

[Aury]

Yeah, I think that one may have been severe enough to cause it not to load.
*hasn't looked at the file yet though*

[Tachyonfang]

It's amazing-as soon as I tried a couple of more things, it suddenly started loading correctly!
So far, the only problems seem to be these-
1) When attempting to turn (clockwise) and the ship reaches a 6:00 facing, the image/icon of the ship in space immediately jumps to the 12:00 facing, without passing through the left hemisphere of the turn. It does the same thing when turning counterclockwise, and again, does not move through the left hemisphere of the turn.
2) The thrust graphic (the fire that comes out of the back of the ship when you attempt to accelerate) always exits out of the 6:00 position, regardless of which facing your ship has right now! consequently, changing the facing of your ship for purposes of steering is essentially useless, because since your thrust is always at the 6:00 position, you always move in the 12:00 direction

I have no idea why the graphics are messed up this way.
I have loaded a new version of my file onto the pastebin, named "Attempt2.xml"
I hope you can help me figure out what I'm doing wrong again!
Thanks again for the help!

[alterecco]

Please post link to the pastebin (not the general link, but the link you get after posting your code there). Otherwise it can be hard to find the post.

[Macgeoghagen]

What I did was download the test ship off the download page and change the ship artwork. You can look through the game xml to find the <!ENTITY rsnameofship unid and paste it in place of the zubrin yacht unid, then go through the code and replace all the zubrin or sapphire &rs things with the name of the image you want the ship to be. Once you get that figured out so you can play it you can go change the values for weight, cargo space, etc. I'm in the process of figuring this out myself, so i'll keep you posted as events warrant.

[Bobby]

When attempting to turn (clockwise) and the ship reaches a 6:00 facing, the image/icon of the ship in space immediately jumps to the 12:00 facing, without passing through the left hemisphere of the turn. It does the same thing when turning counterclockwise, and again, does not move through the left hemisphere of the turn

My guess is your graphics are 40 facings and the example ship is not , add a rotationCount = "40" on the ship class, no rotationCount is the same as 20. on a similar note the thruster image has two choices, 20 and 40 facings, so use the correct one one (the vanilla player ships use the 40 facing version, other ships use the 20, if at all).

[Aury]

The thrust graphic is independent of the actual thrust.

Also note that one of the two pre-included thrust image sets is 20 facings, and the other is 40, which is to be used in conjunction with the settings mentioned above.

[Tachyonfang]

Thanks again for the responses!

I'm implementing the suggestions now and will post again once I have results (good or bad).

Macgeoghagen-please, let me know how your work is turning out!

--Tachyonfang

[Macgeoghagen]

<DriveImages>
<NozzleImage imageID="&rsDriveExhaust;" imageX="48" imageY="0" imageWidth="48" imageHeight="48" imageFrameCount="0" imageTicksPerFrame="0"/>
<NozzlePos x="-44" y="-11"/>
<NozzlePos x="-44" y="12"/>
</DriveImages>

This might help you with your exhaust. For nozzlepos X is how far up or down from the center of your ship. y is how far left or right from the center of your ship. Leave the nozzleimage part alone.

[Tachyonfang]

Update-so far I've got everything working now except the thrust images-still working on getting them aligned with the back end of my ship

--Thanks again all!